Mets Day 1132: A second granddaughter

I flew to Utah on May 14 for the wedding of my niece, and to await the birth of my second granddaughter to Chelsea and Josh. Chelsea went into labor early this morning, and this afternoon gave birth to Lily, 7 lbs 10 oz, 19" long, and absolutely beautiful. I had brought Rose to the hospital in the morning, then took her home for her nap while Chelsea had a fast and painless (2 push) delivery. After Rose awoke, I said, "Do you want to go see Lily?" and she shouted "Yes!"

Introducing Rose to her little sister was one of the most tender and beautiful things I have seen. Rose gently kissed her sister's cheek and was very interested in making sure Lily's hat was on. Rose kept looking over at her mom to make sure the baby wasn't still inside. Eventually, I rocked Lily while Chelsea and Josh spent time with Rose, playing and talking with her. Rose has no idea that her solar system has just added a second sun.

When I held Lily, I was amazed and humbled at how this tiny person was created. I believe that Lily, like all humans, have a spirit that was with God before birth. As Wordsworth wrote in Intimations of Immortality:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

To think that it was not so long ago that Lily was with God, and is now adjusting to this new mortality. Today I was as close to heaven as any mortal may come.

I am so grateful that my life has been prolonged to see this day. I know that it is not through my actions that I survive against the odds: the clinical trial that is working on my cancer does not have the same effect on all metastatic bladder cancers (see this post for an example). I simply give thanks for each day, and find joy and rejoicing in my posterity.